Monday, May 7, 2018

Doin' Miles

468 to be exact.  From Auburn to Bend.  It's not the shortest route, but it keeps me from going through Portland.  I had a good reason to put big miles in today; it's supposed to start raining at home tomorrow afternoon.  I would like to avoid riding in rain if I can.

The roads were straight freeways or two laners and in parts of I5 and hwy 97 from Weed to Bend I was doing consistent 75 mph.  The little Honda ate it up, but also ate up the gas.  I was getting down in the 60's in miles per gallon.

Not many opportunities for picture taking today, but how about a nice view of Mt Shasta from a different perspective than along I5:


And a picture of a very bug splattered bike:


I'm having some minor bike problems.  Jenny noticed yesterday that my tail light was out, but the brake light still works, so since I don't ride a night, it's no big deal.  Then today an oncoming driver turned his headlights on as he passed me.  I  thought maybe he knew bikes were supposed to have the headlight on at all times and was trying to tell me mine wasn't.  Sure enough, the next time I stopped I checked and my low beam was out.  So I solved that problem by turning my high beam on, which is a separate light on the other side.  Maybe it's a little bright for drivers I come up on from behind, but so be it. 

Tomorrow should be a fairly short day and hopefully I will get home before the rain starts. 

3 comments:

  1. Could be your voltage regulator Gerry. Your voltage could be getting too high, especially at the extended higher rpms on the freeway and causing your bulbs to burn out.
    Your battery will cook too eventually.
    Low voltage could do it, but high voltage is more likely.
    Shouldn’t be more than 14.7 at any rpm. If you’re up into the 16-17 your reg is probably fried.

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  2. You changed the bulbs already after confirming the regulator works OK. Might just be a vibration issue. You seem to ride a lot and these bikes do vibrate. If it happens again, consider replacing the bulbs with LED replacements, assuming they don't need any fancy circuitry added. LEDs are quite sturdy, compared to incandescent. (like vacuum tubes vs. solid-state amps)

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    Replies
    1. I don't think my bike vibrates much at all. Maybe it's because I'm comparing it to bikes I've had in the past that REALLY vibrated (Triumphs and a BSA single). I believe there is more to replacing with LEDs than merely plugging them in place of the originals, but I could be wrong. Anyway, I'm going to stick with the stock ones for now.

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